CHAPTER 807: CHAPTER 767: FAMINE ERA 8 (SECOND UPDATE)

The Republic is the period between the Qing Dynasty and the New China, specifically spanning from January 1, 1912, to September 30, 1949.

However, it is divided into two periods: the Beiyang Government period (January 1, 1912—June 1928) and the Nanjing Government period (June 1928—September 1949). Based on the timeline, we are still in the Nanjing Government period.

Only after attending class did she feel as if she had opened the doors to a new world, and she completely dismissed the idea of skipping a grade because each period of study offers a different experience.

She had never been exposed to the studies of this period, neither before nor subconsciously. She felt that skipping it would be too much of a loss.

So she quietly settled down to study.

Most female students who could enter middle school had good grades. She was still in the exploratory stage, so her foundation in class was relatively weak, but she borrowed first and second-grade textbooks from classmates, planning to start learning from scratch and catch up quickly.

Compared to the numerous courses from the previous world, the courses of this period were not much, nor difficult. They were just very different from the original life trajectory, so she needed to integrate into them bit by bit. Moreover, the female students in the class were easy to get along with, and she didn’t know much about the others in different dorms, with no intersection yet.

The school’s meals had basic options and additional items that could be bought separately. The separately bought meals surely had better quality. The ordinary ones were included in the living expenses, which was just enough to fill you up but not enough to eat well. It was coarse grains with pickled vegetable steamed cornbread, but she could accept it. Having lived through the Famine Era, anything was better than wild herbs and tree leaves.

Her stomach was born for this era. Though she hadn’t eaten soil or headdress this life, she had eaten wild herbs and tree leaves, and didn’t get diarrhea or constipation. Her stomach wasn’t big, which was quite fortunate, making her cherish the present grain ration even more.

Because she had fallen behind on many courses, she devoted almost all her time to studying except for eating, sleeping, and doing chores.

Everything was fine, except that she found the pen uncomfortable. She was used to using gel pens; she didn’t like using either fountain pens or writing brushes.

She originally didn’t buy a pencil, but thinking it necessary, she went to buy one. The money for the pencil was an allowance from grandpa, given in the form of a one yuan paper note, not silver coins, which was equivalent to five cents from the 1970s.

Writing with the pencil was much more convenient, though she still needed an eraser and a pencil sharpener, which cost two yuan in total.

The school managed students collectively, as the society was still very turbulent. Hence, students weren’t allowed to leave, with no day students, and everyone stayed in dorms.

She arrived on Wednesday and studied until about three or four o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, when school dismissed.

The day off was mostly for laundering clothes. After school on Saturday, she first went around a nearby residential area, market, and hospital, sold a basket of fruit, and then walked home.

Back home, grandpa and dad remained silent, while mom and Auntie asked many detailed questions, which she politely answered with her imagination.

While out for a digest walk after that, she reported her study situation to grandpa and daddy.

Knowing she was directly in the second year of middle school and still needed more effort, they were quite surprised, because in their eyes Ye Huan was already very capable, and they didn’t expect she was only in the second year. Even so, they encouraged her, telling her to take her time and not rush.

She had washed the dirty clothes at school since she only had two sets of clothes, and there was no need to bring them home.

Besides, her clothes were either grey or blue, handed-down from her brothers, with no reason for being choosy.

Daddy and grandpa actually wanted to get some fabric for making a new set of clothes, but mom felt it was unnecessary for serving others.

Fortunately, Ye Huan wasn’t a pretentious person and didn’t pay much attention to appearance. Her experiences in multiple lifetimes had taught her that inner qualities mattered more than outward appearances.

She stayed at home till the late afternoon. Grandpa prepared some homemade pickles and steamed cornbread, just enough for two days to avoid spoilage. She accepted them with a smile, declined Daddy’s offer to walk her back, and walked back to school by herself.

Returning to school in the late afternoon, there were few people in the dorm, so she went straight to the classroom with her schoolbag.

Every Monday to Saturday she studied; on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings, she went out to sell fruit (occasionally not going home). By the end of the semester, she had saved 35 silver coins from selling fruit, not including what she spent each month on living expenses and study materials.

Fortunately, her hard work had paid off, as evidenced by her ranking in the top ten of her class at the end of the semester. Given her poor foundation upon arrival, she had surpassed her peers halfway through, earning high praise from Mr. Wang, who even asked if she wanted to skip a grade.

After much consideration, she decided to attend one more semester, and if all went well, she would skip to the fourth year.

Mr. Wang saw her steadiness and had no reason to refuse.

Now, her family occasionally received fruit from Ye Huan, so his care for Ye Huan came from genuine concern.

In mid-June, the school would start the summer vacation, and during this time she used ten silver coins to purchase a set of living supplies in the space.

While others went home for holidays, she borrowed third and fourth-grade books to reinforce her studies, running around selling fruit during the day and studying at night.

Since the time in space doubled that of the outside, she not only had sufficient time for study but also some for rest.

It could be said that she effectively balanced learning and earning.

Occasionally she encountered harvesting periods in the space since the fruit took some time to accumulate to the standard of two baskets for selling. Usually, she harvested two and kept one saved up, hence utilizing this free time to help during the summer harvest at home, making life quite bustling.